The European Tour’s Race to Dubai continues this week with the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play. The second WGC of the season boasts an impressive list of World-class players, but who will be crowned champion, and who should you have in your Fantasy team?
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The Favourite
Jon Rahm heads to the second WGC of the year in excellent form, and arrives as one of the favourites tipped to do well this week.
The Spaniard's recent success points to continued consistency, with a tie for ninth at The Players just the most recent in a string of top 10s since the season - which includes four in his first six starts of 2021. His stats are also compelling - ranking inside the top 10 on Tour for Strokes Gained: Off the tee, Strokes Gained: Tee to green, Greens in Regulation and Scoring Average. Rahm's only real downside has revolved around his putting, for which he ranks 122nd - but that hasn't stopped him from contending almost every week.
As for his performance in match-play, Rahm made a stand-out debut here in 2017. He notched up impressive victories against the likes of Sergio Garcia and Charles Howell III on the way to a final with Dustin Johnson, where he was beaten on the 18th. Although he hasn't been able to replicate that feat in his two appearances since (a best of T24 in 2019), he did memorably defeat Tiger Woods 2&1 in the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, and got the better of Dustin Johnson in last year's play-off for the BMW Championship title.
This week, he enters the Group stages as the top seed of Group 3 against Shane Lowry, Ryan Palmer and Sebastian Munoz. If he wins that Group, he will face the winner of Group 14, which consists of Daniel Berger, Harris English, Brendan Todd and Erik Van Rooyen.
Expert Picks
Our expert picks will be brought to you every week by Sky Sports Presenter Kit Alexander and former Ladies European Tour player, coach and presenter Sophie Walker. The duo also co-host their own weekly Fantasy Golf Youtube Channel.
Kit’s Picks
You can follow Kit on social media here: @KitOnTheCourse (Twitter), @KitOnTheCourse (Instagram)
Paul Casey
The Englishman has been in fine form this year with a win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic and finishing no worse than 12th in his five other starts. He won the HSBC World Matchplay in 2006, has a solid Ryder Cup record and has reached the quarter finals here twice in the last four visits. A group that includes Webb Simpson and debutants Talor Gooch and Mackenzie Hughes is a favourable draw.
Rory McIlroy
Of course he can be frustrating, but he’s still an absolute stallion with an excellent matchplay record. He won this event at TPC Harding Park in 2015 and reached the semi-finals at Austin CC in 2016. His Ryder Cup record reads 11W-9L-4H. He’s 12th in Par Breakers (birdies and eagles) on the PGA Tour. The freedom and aggression of matchplay might be just what he needs right now.
Justin Thomas
He returned to form in emphatic fashion with victory at the Players Championship and he’s been inside the top four in birdie average on the PGA Tour every year since 2017 – a very handy stat to shine in when it comes to matchplay. If he can get out of the Group of Death, also containing Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Kisner and Matt Kuchar, then he’ll take some beating in the knockout stages.
Sophie's picks
You can follow Sophie on social media here: @SophWalks (Twitter), @SophWalksGolf (Instagram)
Jon Rahm
The highest ranked European in the field (3rd in the world). Being Spanish and good at matchplay go hand in hand. As highlighted by his victory over Tiger Woods at Le Golf National. He is super consistent, currently 1st in consecutive cuts made (19) and is on a streak of 24 rounds of par or better. This is despite being 122nd in strokes gained putting. I hope this fresh format will free up his putting stroke so Rahm can go one better than his 2nd place here in 2018.
Louis Oosthuizen
Second to Jason Day in 2016, Louis loves Austin CC. He has a win record of 56.67% at the President Cup, some feat for a rest of the world player. (Ernie Els’ is 52.5%) Backed up with strong stats for this year, he is inside the top 10 for strokes gained total (1.577). But this isn’t all down to his poetic golf swing as he is top 10 for SG around the green (.472) and SG putting (1.037). The South African is in the group of death but if he can get through that then look out.
Patrick Reed
The player that everyone wants to beat, this normally means they're one of the best. Reed has all the attributes of a perfect match player. Unflappable, can get up and down out of a paper bag and makes birdies for fun. He places 2nd in birdie average this year (4.84 a round) and 1st in SG putting (1.101). Captain America has a favourable group this week and doesn't mind playing with a target on his back.
